Cable winding apparatus for charger

ABSTRACT

A cable winding apparatus for a charger, which is not only easy to operate but also providing the charging cable an automatic guidance function and a shielding protection, is disclosed. The cable winding apparatus includes a portable charger main body with a grasping and rotating cap, a cable storage groove formed around the external surface of the charger main body, a guiding sleeve movably sleeved onto the cable storage groove. By utilizing the mutual operation of the consumer&#39;s hands, holding the guiding sleeve steadily by one hand, further grasping and rotating the main body by the other hand, the charging cable under the guidance of the guiding and rewinding opening can be sequentially wound into each groove slot in an orderly manner and therefore under the shielding protection of the guiding sleeve. Thereby, the present invention is easy to operate and successful in extending the lifetime of the charging cable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to a cable winding apparatus for a charger, and more particularly, to a cable winding apparatus which is not only easy to operate but also providing the charging cable an automatic guidance function and a shielding protection.

Owing to the prosperity of commercial transaction, the information communicated between people has become more important than ever. Further, because the mobile business is common to people nowadays, the percentage of people possessing mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDA), digital cameras, and laptop computers has been rapidly increased. To convince people to utilize the mobile business system, the most important thing except the quality of the communication signal is the working time of the battery providing power. Although the battery manufacturers continually work on the invention of a long-term battery, the working time of a battery is always limited. A battery needs to be recharged.

The chargers used for mobile business, according to their different external power source, can be divided into two different groups, the in-car charger and the house charger. The in-car charger has an electrical plug to connect it to the cigarette lighter of a car. The house charger has two metal blades to connect it to the alternating current (AC) receptacle of a house. No matter what type the charger is, a charger outputs direct current to a mobile business device through a charging cable. Observing the common habits of consumers utilizing chargers, most of them leave the charging cable tangled together when the charger is not in use. Some consumers wrap the charging cable directly around the external surface of the charger or collect the charging cable by folding. These storage methods always damage the inner electrical strands and therefore reduce the lifetime of the charging cable. Consumers are unlikely to notice these damages. Only if they fail to charge their battery for many times, can they notice their charger having problem. It is really troublesome for consumers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is to remedy the problem of a conventional charger that does not provide the charging cable a protective storage, and the possible nuisance bothering a consumer that the charger does not work because of the fracture of the charging cable caused by the random wrapping.

The present invention is not only easy to operate but also provides the charging cable an automatic guidance function and a shielding protection. The cable winding apparatus for the charger provided by the present invention includes a portable charger main body, a grasping and rotating cap engaged on the main body to be utilized to drive the main body to rotate synchronously, a cable storage groove formed on the external surface of the main body, and a guiding sleeve, with a longitudinal guiding and rewinding opening, movably sleeved onto the cable storage groove.

By utilizing the mutual operation of the consumer's hands, holding the guiding sleeve steadily by one hand, further grasping and rotating the main body by the other hand, the charging cable under the guidance of the guiding and rewinding opening can be sequentially wound into each groove slot in an orderly manner and therefore under the shielding protection of the guiding sleeve. Thereby, the present invention is easy to operate and successful in extending the lifetime of the charging cable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These as well as other features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reference to the drawings therein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention, showing a condition wherein the charging cable in dash line has been rewound in the cable storage groove;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention fully assembled, showing a condition wherein the charging cable has been rewound in the cable storage groove; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention fully assembled, illustrating the rewinding operation of the charging cable.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of a cable winding apparatus for a charger in accordance with the present invention is shown. The cable winding apparatus utilizes the external surface of a portable charger main body 1 to form a cable storage groove 2, and to provide the charging cable 5 a circle type winding when the consumer rotates a grasping and rotating cap 3 or a guiding sleeve 4. The grasping and rotating cap 3 is engaged on the main body 1 to be utilized to drive the main body 1 to rotate synchronously with the cap 3. The guiding sleeve 4 movably sleeved onto the cable storage groove 2 provides the charging cable 5 a winding guidance during the winding process and a thorough protection after the winding.

The portable charger main body 1 includes a shell 10. It is preferred that the shell 10 is formed directly into a hallow cylinder as illustrated in FIG. 1. The hallow inner space of the shell 10 can be utilized to install the charging circuit while the two ends of the shell 10 can be utilized to incorporate an in-car connecting component 11 and a house connecting component such as a plug, respectively, to connect the charger to external electrical source.

The cable storage groove 2, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is formed by a continuously ranking of spiral grooves around the external surface of the cylindrical shell 10 of the charger main body 1. Thereby, the rotational operation of the cable storage groove 2 decides the storage sequence and location of the cable being wound in. Groove walls 21 separate the groove slots 20. The groove width of the groove slot 20 is commensurate with the diameter of the charging cable 5 and allows only one cable to rest in. Thereby, the charging cable 5 can be sequentially wound into the cable storage groove 2 and rests in the groove slot 20 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The grasping and rotating cap 3, engaged on the main body 1 to protect and encave the in-car connecting component 11, has two opposite concave grasping portions 31 which can be grasped by the consumer to drive the main body 1 to rotate synchronously with the cap 3. The charging cable 5 can be rewound into the cable storage groove 2 through this operation.

The charging cable 5 has a rewinding starting point defined by the charging circuit connecting end 50 which penetrates through the shell 10 and connects to the charging circuit at the starting point of the continuous spiral groove.

The guiding sleeve 4 can be sleeved onto and envelops the cable storage groove 2, and can be movably rotated around the main body 1. The installment of the guiding sleeve 4 insures that the groove slot 20 can be exactly occupied by only one thread of the charging cable 5, and therefore, prevents the probable repeated wrapping of the charging cable 5 around a groove slot 20. The guiding sleeve 4 has a guiding and rewinding opening 41 formed along its longitudinal surface. It is preferred that the length of the opening 41 is commensurate with the length of the guiding sleeve 4. Thereby, each groove slot 20 has a corresponding point on the guiding and rewinding opening 41. The groove slot 20 and its corresponding point on the guiding and rewinding opening 41 together provide the charging cable 5 a winding guidance when the charging cable 5 is wound into the groove slot 20.

The embodiment of the present invention fully assembled is illustrated by FIG. 3. The actual operation of the cable winding apparatus and the mutual coordination of its components is illustrated by FIG. 4.

When the consumer need to use the charging cable 5, he holds the external surface of the guiding sleeve 4 to prevent the guiding sleeve 4 from rotation, he further uses his other hand to pull the charging cable 5 out from the cable storage groove 2 through the guiding and rewinding opening 41 of the guiding sleeve 4. When the consumer pulling the charging cable 5 out, the main body 1 rotates simultaneously. Therefore, the charging cable 5 can be smoothly and sequentially pulled out from the groove slot 20 of the cable storage cable 2 through the slot's corresponding point on the guiding and rewinding opening 41. When the charging is complete, the consumer may like to rewind the charging cable 5 back to the cable storage groove 2, he can again hold the external surface of the guiding sleeve 4 to prevent the guiding sleeve 4 from rotation, and further use his other hand to grasp the concave grasping portions 31 of the grasping and rotating cap 3 and proceed the rotational operation. This rotational operation drives the main body 1 and the cable storage groove 2 to rotate synchronously with the cap 3. By utilizing this continuous rotational operation, the corresponding point on the guiding and rewinding opening 41 of each groove slot 20, and the width limit of the groove slot 20, the charging cable 5 can be sequentially rewound into each of the groove slot 20 of the cable storage 2 in an orderly manner, and stored in a cylindrical style. The present invention is easy for the consumer to operate. Because the present invention provides the charging cable 5 an orderly storage and a shielding protection by the guiding sleeve, it effectively extends the lifetime of the charging cable 5.

Comparing the present invention with the conventional charger, the present invention at least has the following merits. First, the present invention is easy and fast to operate. The consumer can proceed the rewinding simply by rotating the grasping and rotating cap and the charger main body. Second, the lifetime of the charging cable of the present invention is longer than those of the conventional chargers. Because the charging cable is sequentially rewound into each of the groove slot of the cable storage in an orderly manner, and stored in a cylindrical style, the fracture of the charging cable caused by the random wrapping can be prevented. Third, the charging cable is under well protection. The charging cable is stored between the cable storage groove and the guiding sleeve, and therefore is unlikely to be ruined by external force.

While an illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations except insofar as limited by the prior art. 

1. A cable winding apparatus for winding a charging cable of a charger, comprising: a main body; a cable storage groove formed around the external surface of the main body, providing the charging cable a winging storage; and a guiding sleeve having a guiding and rewinding opening formed along a longitudinal surface thereof, movably sleeved onto the cable storage groove.
 2. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 1, wherein the charging main body is portable.
 3. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 1, wherein the cable storage groove is formed by a continuously ranking of spiral grooves around the external surface of the cylindrical shell of the charger main body.
 4. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 3, wherein the groove width of the groove slot of the cable storage groove is commensurate with the diameter of the charging cable.
 5. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 3, wherein each groove slot of the cable storage groove has a corresponding point on the guiding and rewinding opening of the guiding sleeve.
 6. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 1, wherein a length of the guiding and rewinding opening is commensurate with a length of the guiding sleeve.
 7. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 1, further comprising a grasping and rotating cap engaged with the charger main body to drive the charger main body to rotate synchronously with the cap.
 8. The cable winding apparatus for charger of claim 7, wherein the cap comprises two opposite concave grasping portions formed on the surface thereof to provide a consumer to grasp the cap and to drive the main body to rotate synchronously with the cap. 